Azim Premji

Trivia

• In the year 2001, he established Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a vision of influencing the lives of millions of children in India by facilitating the universalisation of elementary education. The foundation works closely with the state governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc and the programs cover over 5000 rural schools. Premji contributes the financial resources for the foundation.
• He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee for Information Technology in India.
• Over the years, Azim Premji has been privileged with many honors and accolades.
• Azim Hashim Premji finds himself in the Forbes Billionaire List 2000, placed in 41st position with a wealth of $ 6.4 billion.
• He is an absolute workaholic and according to him work is the only way to success and survival in a competitive environment. A tough employer, he expects his employees to be competent and will not tolerate lies or deception from anyone.
• He doesn’t believe in resorting to bribery or corruption to get things done and associates quality with integrity.
• Azim Premji was forced to leave his studies in computer science from Stanford University, California, USA at the age of 21 to take over the family business of vegetable oils when his father M.H. Premji, suddenly passed away in 1966. He has since after a gap of over thirty years completed his degree in Electrical Engineering.
• Azim Premji is the founder of Wipro Limited, India’s biggest and most competitive IT company based in Bangalore.

Quotes

• "In our way of working, we attach a great deal of importance to humility and honesty; With respect for human values, we promise to serve our customers with integrity."
• "There are millions of children today who don’t attend school. However, education is the only way to get ahead in this country."
• "Character is one factor that will guide all our actions and decisions. We invested in uncompromising integrity that helped us take difficult stands in some of the most difficult business situations."
• "I want Wipro to be among the top ten IT companies in the world."
• "As an advisor, I can say what I want. If I were a politician, I would constantly have to compromise, and I’m incapable of doing that.'
• "The early years were more about learning than about acting. I had to carry on my father’s work, which was a big challenge."
• "As you get bigger, you have to learn to delegate. It’s also an excellent way to get staff involved in the company’s operations."
• “The results for the third quarter (October-December) signal the next phase of growth. Revenue from IT business at $473 million (Rs.21.2 billion) was ahead of the guidance figure of $463 million (Rs.20.6 billion) projected in October.”
• “Though delivery of superior solutions to our customers and creating sustainable value to the shareholders remain unchanged, we are devising strategies in anticipation of challenges and opportunities to focus on execution for higher operating productivity.”
• “Our financial solutions and technology businesses delivered yet another quarter of double digit growth. Similarly, services such as testing, technology infrastructure management and enterprise application services grew ahead of the overall growth rate.”